Homesick[Zeb]

[Alex Grayson]

Alex was homesick again. Though, he'd only been at Hammel for just over a week, and it was to be expected. Video chats with his family weren't enough, they looked like they were absolutely fine without him. His parents said they missed him, which was enough for Alex to believe- if he was told that the word "banana" was printed on the ceiling, he'd look up and would be quite surprised not to see the word banana on the ceiling. He could be taken advantage of quite easily for this, but he was thankful that no one had discovered this weakness yet.

He was alone, sitting on the couch, staring at the blank television screen. It was odd that no one was around- it was late, but normally, Alex would have expected more people to be up, watching television at this hour. Then again, Alex knew virtually nothing about Hammel compared to many of his classmates. He didn't mind it, he knew that within the next month, he'd learn more about it. The start hadn't been easy for Alex, but he'd lasted a week. And things were looking up for him- he'd managed to make a few friends, both in his classes and older students. Catching up was no easy task, but he was doing it.

He continued to stare at the television, not bothering to turn his head as he heard footsteps.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Since Zeb’s power had manifested, he’d always had trouble sleeping at nights. Because of this, he spent a lot of time wandering the grounds and halls at Hammel. It worked out well for him because he could keep an eye out for misbehaving students.

He was just coming back inside from smoking his pipe when he noticed someone was sitting along in the lounge. He couldn’t tell who it was from the back, but was a tad concerned about the way whoever it was stared at the blank screen.

Walking into the room, he sat on a couch opposite they boy. Once he saw his face he recognized him as a new student. “Hey Alex,” he said as he sat down. “How’s it going?” He was racking his brain trying to remember the boy’s ability and if it would have any effect on sleeping. It was starting to get late and most of the other students were already heading to bed, or at least in their rooms. But although he was great with names, it took him a little longer to get powers down.

[Alex Grayson]

Alex knew the voice- it was the dorm monitor. He took a few seconds to make eye contact with the man, but it did happen. Alex was known to not be as trusting when first meeting a person, then once he knew the person was okay, he'd be less timid around them. With Zeb, he was more in the middle- he wasn't too sure with him, considering that he'd only known the man for about a week now, and had barely interacted, for the most part.

He wondered briefly if Zeb had felt this way when he first arrived at Hammel. From what he understood, not all students missed their homes, and were perfectly happy at Hammel from the start. Alex, however, was not one of those students.

Blinking, Alex took a deep breath. "I'm a bit homesick," he admitted. "I.. I miss home."

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb gave Alex a warm smile once the boy made eye contact with him. He didn’t take it personally, he knew a lot of the newer students were slow to trust the people in this new world they’d suddenly become a part of.

It had been a little different for Zeb because Aliyah had arrived at the same time. Having his sister around had eased his sense of loneliness, but he’d still had trouble adjusting to his ability and its side effect during his first few years. Not to mention the other students were a little wary of someone who could give them nightmares.

He was starting to wonder if maybe Alex just wanted some alone time when the boy spoke. Zeb gave him an understanding smile. “There’s nothing unusual about missing home,” he said. In fact, Zeb found he sometimes worried more about the new students who weren’t homesick at first. “I know it’s hard. And you’re probably heard this before, but it gets better. It does.” Once new students started making friends and getting involved they started to miss home less. Of course it was always harder on the more introverted kids.

“How are your classes going?” he asked. He paused for a moment to think who Alex’s roommates were. “Getting along okay with your roommates? I hope Sam and AJ haven’t asked you to do anything too dangerous.” He’d caught them last week attempting to sneak into the chemistry lab for god knows what.